Trowelable, epoxy-based flooring materials are known to generally include hardener, resin and aggregate. One commercially successful trowelable epoxy-based flooring material utilizes bisphenol acetone-based epoxy as the resin.
Known bisphenol acetone epoxy-based flooring materials often contain several components in addition to the hardener and the epoxy. These components include aggregates (such as sand), as well as pigments, diluents, monoepoxide and other additives.
Bisphenol F based epoxy resin is marketed by Shell Chemical Company as EPON Resin DPL-862. A preliminary technical bulletin issued by Shell asserts that chemical resistance properties can be obtained. However, that bulletin does not disclose hardener systems to be used with the bisphenol epoxy to obtain chemical resistance properties.
While trowelable epoxy-based floorings and epoxy-based coatings, and especially bisphenol acetone epoxy-based floorings, have received wide commercial acceptance, the need nevertheless remains for flooring and coating materials exhibiting, higher impact strength and even higher chemical resistance, for use in industrial environments, particularly where heavy impact loading can be anticipated and where spills of caustic or other highly reactive chemicals cannot be avoided. These needed floorings and coatings must also present a closed exposed surface to facilitate cleanup and maintenance.